Sokos Hotel Viru
The Original Sokos Hotel Viru is a hotel in Tallinn, Estonia. It was Estonia's first high-rise building[1] and is connected to the Viru Keskus shopping center. It is owned by Sokos Hotels.
History
[edit]The Hotel Viru was built by Intourist, the government tourist monopoly of the Soviet Union. It was constructed by the Repo Oy construction company, based in Savonlinna, Finland.[2] Work began in July 1969. However, a fire broke out on the 10th floor of the project in December 1969, and the Finnish company went bankrupt as a result.[3] Another Finnish company, Haka Oy, completed the hotel in May 1972[4] and the Hotel Viru opened on June 14, 1972.[5]
During the Soviet era, the 23rd floor of the hotel contained a KGB listening center, used to spy on hotel guests. Sixty of the hotel's rooms had concealed espionage devices and some restaurant tables had listening devices. The KGB left the hotel just before Estonia became independent in August 1991, but the secret rooms weren't found until 1994. This former radio center is now a museum.[6]
In 2003, the hotel was sold to the S Group, a Finnish retailing cooperative organization. It now has 516 rooms.[7]
Further reading
[edit]- Nupponen, Sakari: Aikamatka hotelli Viruun. Ajatuskirjat, 2007. ISBN 978-951-20-7472-3.
References
[edit]- ^ "Original Sokos Hotel Viru". www.greatvalueholidays.com. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
- ^ "Hotel Viru: A Finnish Trojan horse in Soviet Tallinn". News. 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
- ^ July 15, Tony Öhberg |; Culture, 2017 8:22 am |. "We Visited Estonian's First Skyscraper Hotel That Was Built by Finns 45 Years Ago - 18th Floor Reveals a Heartfelt Connection". Finland Today | News in English | finlandtoday.fi. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Turun Sanomat: Suomi myi koskia, IVO rakensi ja Aarne Saarinen johti lakkoja[dead link]
- ^ "Iconic Viru Hotel turns 50 - the Baltic Guide Online". 16 May 2022.
- ^ Viisi tähteä 24.1.2011: Hotelli Viru yllättää neukkuretrolla[permanent dead link]
- ^ Viisi tähteä 21.5.2007 : Viru-hotelli tiennäyttäjänä SOK:n kansainvälistyessä Archived 2011-01-04 at the Wayback Machine
External links
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